The Big Manifest Theory
by elgatonintendero
Summary: TBBT & THE MANIFEST. 26 years after, flight 575 (that vanished in 1994) comes back. One of the passangers on board was George Cooper Sr., and he now has to adapt to the new world around him.
1. Flight 575, Destination:2020

George was still thinking in what he had spoken with Mary before he left. The last years of their marriage had been though, first they lost a baby, then Sheldon left home to go to college and George had started drinking more. They had been through hell's fire together but he eventually found himself cheating on his wife. He didn't plan on doing it, but he usually he was to drunk to think about the consecuences. This was until Sheldon had accidentally walked into him and some woman together, in his and Mary's bedroom. That night, as he saw the expression on his younger son's face while they had dinner, George swore he would fix things his wife right away. That night, when everyone was asleep, George told Mary that they needed to talk. He took her to a private place, where nobody could find or hear them and he told her. There were many unchristian words, tears and some things that are better unheard. She was hurt, of course, but not surprised. It took them almost a whole year, but they were finally fixing things and he was so happy, because he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life with someone else. Sure they fought all the time, but they still loved each other like day one, so this was for good. Before he left, Mary told him that he was welcome to back in their house whenever he wanted and George said that as soon as he came back. Right now, he was in a plane to go to visit Sheldon in California, because he was studying there.

Some turbulences got him out of his thoughts. They were big ones, so much that he thought that the plane was gonna crash. He distracted himself from the panic thinking about his family: Mary would find another guy, who could be the man she deserved and would never betray her, like he did. Georgie would be fine, he had a wife (for now) and was still working at Hershell's. Sheldon would do great things and make them proud. And he probably would find someone like him, he was sure. Missy...she just had started high school, but people there loved her, since she was so lovely but tough at the same time. She would never be alone.

Before he knew it, the turbulences were gone.

Thank God! He wasn't gonna die there. He would fix things with Mary, see Georgie open his first store, see Missy graduate from high school and Sheldon wining that award he was nominated to.

Suddenly, the pilot's voice spoke:

\- I'm so sorry, folks. Those turbulences were not in the radar. Anyway, I have bad news. The control tower said we must go back to Texas.

People was complaining about it and they had the right to, but George was just happy he was alive.

An hour and a half later, they were landing, but aparently something was wrong, since there were cops car's and people with guns and stuff there.

They made them go off the plane right there, and then, two men in black suits started talking to the crew, who looked shocked.

In 10 minutes, George's pacience ran off:

\- Excuse me. Can ya'll just tell us what the hell is going on? Can we leave?

\- (People agree and coplain out loud at the same time)

\- Please, be quite. There's a lot of stuff going on here.

\- I wanna go home so, what's the problem?

\- The problem, ladies and gentlemen is...your flight left from Houston, Texas, the 26th of March of the year 1994. Today...is April 14th 2020.

\- (Everyone gaspes)

\- Ya'll have been missing, pressumpted dead for more that 26 years.

The next two days went by like a blurr. Apparently, what for the passangers and crew had been 3 hours, for the rest of the world had been 26 years.

At first, they were all sceptical, but then the feds proved that it was true, and everyone was shocked.

"Damn! You take a 3-hour-flight and when you land, you've lost two decades and a half of your life." George thought.

They were told that their things had to be examinated or something like that, so they gave them new clothes.

Now, everyone was reuniting with their loved ones.

A teenager was being desesperatly hugged by her parents and siblings.

A man was spinning around his wife, who was laughing.

Two brothers were happily walking towards the exit, the older one with his arm around the other's shoulders.

And between all this people, he saw her.

Mary.

She wasn't looking in his direction, until he found enough strengh in himself to speak.

\- Mare!

She slowly turned her head and looked him in the eye. They calmly walk towards each other, not even blanking so they wouldn't break their eye contact.

There were only a few centimeters between them. George looked at Mary, studying her with his eyes.

He calculated that now, she was in her early 60's but, even now, she was still the most gorgeus woman he'd ever seen. She was wearing a green and violet flowers's shirt and jeans. Her hair was darker than it used to be, but her eyes, now full of tears she was desesperatly trying not to let go, were the same.

The same eyes that told him that they would never be together in high school or the same eyes that only a few years later said "yes" when he asked her to marry him. Those eyes, which their younger son had inherited, would never change and were now looking into his own.

\- George...-Mary whispered.

\- Looking good.- he answered with a weak voice.

\- You're alive.

\- Yeah...shit happens, you now it.

\- I don't understand how, you look exactly the same, you...haven't aged a day.

\- I don't get it either. And neither do the feds, they are going nuts. We've all been interveiwed so many times that I felt like a celebrity.- George said, letting out a small chuckle.

That was all that took to break Mary down. She immediatly started crying and hugged her husband so hard that it was making it difficult for him to breath, but he hugged her back.

A few minutes later, they separated.

\- Look, Mare. I don't wanna be insensitive or anything, but aren't you married?I mean, you're wearing a ring.

\- So are you.

\- Yeah, but for me this have been three days, it ain't the same.

\- You're right, it ain't the same. But before you left, I said that we could try again and I stand by it.

\- Really? Aren't you with someone?

\- No. I've had sex, of course, but nothing serious. So,if you want to, we can work it out over time.

\- Oh, my god! Yes, please!- he said kissing her cheaks. While he did it, Mary moved his face so that he'd kiss her lips and they softly kissed for a while, kind of like they did when they first started dating.

When they finished, she turned away and he was able to see the people behind her. There was a man and a woman staring at them. They were both tall, had long dark brown hair and must have been like 40. It took him a little while to recognise them.

\- Georgie...Missy?

Both quickly got close and hugged their father, while George was looking at Mary, like looking for answers she didn't have either. The kids separated and Sr. stared at them, until:

\- So, Dad...How was your flight? - Georgie said breaking the tension and making all of them laugh.


	2. Coming Home

**CHAPTER 2: COMING HOME.**

Mary, both Georges and Missy were in the car, getting the Cooper patriarch back home. Mary now lived in Galveston but in the same house they did when the kids were actual kids, before moving to Medford.

When they got there, Mary, Georgie and Missy went to the kitchen, while George stayed in the living room. Suddenly, he heard the door opening.

\- Hellooo! Someone here?

Connie (aka Meemaw) was probably gonna kill him now that she knew he was alive.

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Too bad he didn't get to spend more time with his family.

\- Coonie?- George said, a _little _nervous.

\- George...So, you really are alive.

\- Yeah...You probably wanna kill me for what happened before I left, but first let me spend some time with them.

\- (After a few seconds in silence) I'm not gonna kill you. I wanted to, back then, but after you "died" I felt bad becuase of how things were left between us, so...

\- So what?

\- Come here and hug Meemaw, son.

\- You ain't messing again with me, are you? Not the greatest moment to it, Connie.

\- Come here and hug me, you big gorilla!

\- Now, **that's **my mother-in-law.- he said and went yo hug her.

\- Dinner's ready!- Missy yelled from the kitchen.

Coming!- George yelled back.

While they were eating, George learned about everything that happened in the last 26 years of the kids' lifes.

Georgie was the owner of the most succesful tire bussines in Texas. He had seen a few "Dr. Tire" stores in the way home, but he never would've imagined those were his son's.

Missy had two kids with her ex-husband, a boy, Ayden, and a baby girl, Megan. Right now, they were with their father, but she promised to bring them home next holidays.

Sheldon married almost two years ago (He knew it! Unlike Mary, George always thought their son would find somebody who loved him the way he was, and he was right!) and he recently won that science prize, the one he told him he was gonna win and that he would thank him in his speech (which he did, as George was told). His special little boy was one of the most important scientists at the moment and his wife was expecting (George was thrilled to hear that he would have another grandchild, one he would know from the start). He should be here any minute, many people were traveling to reunite with people who were also in the plane so it was difficult to get a flight.

When they all finished eating, Connie went bowling (not before putting a very wet kiss in George's cheek and saying that she would come back tomorrow). Then, they watched a movie called " The Pursuit of Happyness" which, by the way, made both Georges cry while Missy took pictures of them.

After that, the kids left. Missy said that Georgie could crash in her couch for as long as he stayed in Galveston (he now lived in Dallas), so they said "goodbye" to their parents and took the road.

George and Mary were alone, and just sat there, enjoying each other's company, until the clock marked eleven p.m, then they went to bed.

At first, George thought that he'd have to sleep in his underwear, that was until Mary blushed and got one of his Pjs out of the closet. She shyly gave it to him, avoiding eye contact while he looked at her with the widest of smiles, but understanding that she didn't wanted to talk about it.

The next morning when George woke up, Mary was still dead to the world, so he decided to quietly get up and have breakfast.

Since the weather was great today, after eating, he sat in the bench in the outside of the house. The birds were singing and the sun was as bright as can be. Then, a noise coming from the inside of the house called his attention. It was shower, so Mary was already up. Right when he got up to go back

in the house again, he saw a shadow in the street, behind him.

It was a guy.

He was carrying a bag.

He was tall, pale and had short dark hair and he was starting to grow a beard.

He was dressed fancy.

A dark blue suit, white shirt, red tie and black shoes.

Just like with Georgie and Missy, it took him a little time to recognise him.

\- Sheldon?


	3. Lightning And Thunder

**CHAPTER 3**

It started as a regular day. The gang was reunited in Leonard and Penny's apartment to eat luch, just like they had done so many times. Raj was complaining about he was the only one who hadn't formed a family, so they all (except for him) wanted to turn the TV on. But they couldn't agree in what to watch, so in the end, they put on the news. They were talking about something important, it seemed, because there were feds and policemans talking. They changed the channel to find out what was going on. Turns out, that a plane that had vanished about 20 or 30 years ago came back. And that was not it, the people on board swore that they landed anywhere, that it was only a regular 3-hour-flight. Plus, nobody aged a day! It was like what for everyone else had been decades, for them had been only a few hours. They started debating about how was that even possible, with Penny saying that it was probably just some sort of miracle and Howard making very innapropiate jokes about, earning "the look" from Bernie. It was a while before they realised that Sheldon had been awful quiet. If it was anyone else, that wouldn't mean much, but this was Sheldon, so something was wrong.

\- Buddy, are you alright?

\- Sure...

\- What's going on?

\- I _may _know someone who _could have been_ in that plane.

\- Really? Cool! Who?

\- I'd rather not saying it until I'm sure that this is real.

\- Come on, Moonpie! Quit the mistery and tell us!

\- Yeah, come on.

\- Just say it, buddy.

\- NO!- Sheldon shouted, way louder than he wanted to.

An akward silence filled the room, and the texan ignored the six pairs of wide-open-eyes (nine, if we count Halley, Michael and Luke, who got slightly scared when their uncle raised his voice) that were staring at him. A few minutes later, he mumbled something under his breath:

\- What did you say, dude? - Raj asked with caution.

\- The-Man-Whose-Sperm-Fecundated-My-Mom's-Egg-And-Who-Raised-Me. Oh Dear Lord. MY DAD! -he answered, starting to hiperventilate.

\- Honey, calm down. Breathe, okay? Just breathe.- Amy said while putting a hand in his arm, carresing it softly.

\- OKAY, okay. I'm good.

\- Really?- Raj asked, carefully.

\- I really...ain't. Dad's alive! Holy crap!

\- But it's a good thing, right?

\- Good?Go-IT'S FUCKING GREAT!- he said with the widest of smiles.

Sheldon got up and went to pick up his phone. His excitement became evident by his walking, since it was through little jumps. This made the two oldest kids laugh and as a consequence the adults.

The rest of the day went by calmly, everyone in their own places.

In Shamy's apartment (they would move out after the baby was born), Sheldon was packing a suitcase to go to Texas with his family and stay there a few days.

\- Are you sure you two will be okay?

\- We'll be fine, daddy. You don't have to worry.

\- I'm a natural worrier, dear. You know that.

\- I do, but you can go in peace. The baby isn't due until October and is perfectly healthy, as I am. Go to Texas and bond with your Dad.

\- Do you think he'll..., you know.

\- Be proud of you? For sure, is there something not to be proud of?

\- My Dad was always proud of my academic achivements but his priority was for me to be a good man...I don't think "The jerk of Sheldon Cooper" will fulfill his expectations.

\- "The jerk of Sheldon Cooper" is the best guy I know.

\- You're just saying that...

\- No, I mean it. I married him and I'm having his child. On purpose.

-(They both chuckled and hugged)

\- Well, I trust your judgement, Doctor Fowler.

\- You should, I have a good one. My husband is handsome, smart and succesful, I chose the right genes to pass on.

\- We both did. - he said before leaning and kissing her.

* * *

_\- Sheldon?_

George as his youngest son slowly walked in his direction.

Soon, father and son were face to face, looking into each other's eyes, only separated by a few centimeters.

Trying to swallow the knot in his throat, George weakly raised his hand, as an invitation for Sheldon to shake it.

The youngest Cooper stared at the hand and then at his father's face.

After what felt like years, he went and held his hand and quickly pulled his father into a hug, burying his face into his neck.

George still coundn't believe that the man in front of him was his son. He had seen him last year and he was still a teen.

Sheldon was shaking like a leaf and when George's shoulder began to get wet, it was obvious that he was silently crying.

He had seen him cry before, of course, but nothing like this.

He would cry because something didn't go the way he wanted or the way it was supposed to be.

But this was different, this was...pure emotion, and since it was something he had bottled up for more than two decades and a half, seeing his father with his own eyes made him lose it.

As soon as Sheldon calmed down, George held his kid's head in his hands, forcing him to make eye contact.

\- You're so big!- he said out of breath.

Both Coopers laughed and hugged again, before walking into the house with an arm on the other's shoulders.


End file.
